Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Doesn't April Count as Spring??

It's a cold, snowy day here in Utah. I miss Vegas. I got to spend all of last week there. My cousin (aka best friend) got married on Friday. She was such a beautiful bride, and I adore her husband. He's very funny, and they are perfect for each other. They are in Mexico now, on their awesome cruise. Away from the snow and cold. (Not that they had any snow or cold to begin with.) Can you tell I'm a tiny bit jealous? But really, the wedding was amazing, and I was so happy to be a part of it. I will have to post pictures a little later, (most likely in the form of a slideshow, as there are TONS) but I am waiting on my dad to email them to me.

My week "vacation" was both very fun, and very sad. My dog of 13 years died at around 1:40 Monday morning. We got her when she was a year old. I really can't complain. A shar pei living to be 14 years old is practically unheard of. We got to have her for much longer than anyone expected. Most of my cousins can't even remember her not being around.

She was an amazing dog. The best guard dog anyone could ask for. I think she thought that my sister and I were her "puppies." If she didn't know someone, they were NOT allowed anywhere near us. Especially when we were little. But she was also really friendly. Once you gained her trust, she was always friendly and loyal. I doubt I will EVER have a dog as good as she was. Though I know that she lived well past her time, I'm still so sad to see her go.

She went peacefully, surrounded by her "people." My dad and I did our best to make her comfortable. Her last two days, she could no longer stand. She didn't seem to be in any pain - she just didn't have the strength to get up and walk around. She wouldn't eat anything but the baby food mix we were hand feeding her, or drinking anything but the water we gave her through a baby medicine syringe. Late afternoon on Sunday, she started having seizures. At this point, we thought that maybe she was in a little pain, so we crushed up tiny doses of Lortab (about 1/10th of a pill) and gave it to her for the pain. It seemed to relax her, and help her to not be in any pain. We also gave her the medicine from the vet - meant to coat her stomach and mouth. (She had some ulcers on the roof of her mouth, which we thought was why she wasn't eating.) And we also put some orajel on the syringe each time. I don't think she was in any pain. We gave her the last dose around 130 in the morning. She wouldn't swallow any of it - it just dribbled out of her mouth. She stopped breathing about 10 minutes later.

We took her out to Parhump that morning, and buried her in her bed under a tree. She was such a good dog, and she deserved a proper burial.